Trying to make sense of the investment headlines we read in newspapers, magazines and various investment publications can confuse the best of investors. Our rule of thumb is if you can’t control it, then don’t worry about it. Understand that it is normal for the market to go down. What you don’t want to do is change your long-term course based upon fluctuating, short-term data.

This is why it is so important to identify your long-term goals and write them down. When people follow their natural instincts, they tend to apply faulty reasoning to investing. They tend to follow the crowd and more often than not, the crowd is wrong.